Fuse-block housing



NOV. l2, 1929. R Q BENJAMlN 1,735,072

FUSE BLOCK HOUSING Filed Deo. 6. 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet l /6 {fo/f5 19F1333 5 FITT'IIIRNEY'S NOV. l2, 1929. K- R BENJAMlN 1,735,072

FUSE BLOCK HOUSING Filed Dec. 6. 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 mvENfP [1R f- Qm,@WW/dwf v HT'TIIIRNEYS.

Nov. l2, 1929. R B BENJAMIN FUSE BLOCK HOUSING Filed Dec. 6. 1925 4Sheets-Sheet BYA EM' E QTTURNEYE,

Nov. 12,' 1929.

R. B. BENJAMIN FUSE BLOCK HOUSING Filed Deo. 6. 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 4INVENTR n, l @AMM/VM FW'VCIRNEY E ANJ housing for the fuse block.

Patented Nov. 12, 1929 UNITED STATES PATENTr OFFICE REUBEN E. BENJAMIN,OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AssIGNCE To BENJAMIN ELECTRIC MANUFACTURINGCOMPANY, OE CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OE ILLINOIS Applicationfiled December 6, 192.6` Serial 170.153,04?.

My invention relates to a housing construction for the branch overloadprotective devices which are associated with the service boxes.

In certain electric installations it is desirable Athat the serviceboxes shall be closed and sealed so as not to be accessible to thetenant; but that the fuse receptacles for the branch circuits shall behoused in such a manner that they will be accessible to the tenant.

One of the objects of iny invention is to provide a housing constructionfor branch fuse receptacles or other overload protective devices whichwill fulfill the above indicated requirements.

A further Object of my invention is to provide such a housingconstruction which will fit in well with present day service boxconstruction.

A further object of my invention is to provide such a construction inwhich the trough which connects the service boxes in certain types ofinstallation forms a part of the Further objects will appear from thedescription and claims.

In the drawings in which an embodiment of my invention is shown- Figure1 is a view showing parts of two service boxes with the connectingtrough and the fuse block in place in the trough;

Fig. Q is a section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, but showing the covers inposition;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1, but showing the covers inposition;

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of `Fig. 1;

Referring now .t0 the construction in detail, Fig. 1 shows aninstallation in which two two-,wire branch circuits ,are derived from athree-wire line circuit.

The fuse block 10 is mounted in the trough 11 above .the line wires.extending .between the service boxes 11a` and 11b. A positive line wire11c from the meter in the left-hand serv.- ice box is connected at 12,with the center contact member 13m. the left-hand fuse receptackle, Vanda ositive branch wire -14 is connected at 15 with the shell contact 16of the left-hand `ruse receptacle land leads to the branch conduit 17,whichfextends upwardly from vrthe trough 11. A neutral wire 18 is tappedoff fromthe Aneutral line wire, and connected at19 to the neutralbinding plate 20130111 which a neutral branch wire lglead to the conduit17 Y to complete the A@i1-"cuit orjthe positive branch wire previouslyre.-

to the branch conduit to complete the circuit' for the branch Wirereferred t0- "Ihere are thus derived two branch circuits with fnses forthe potential branches 4but with no fuses .for the neutral branches-Reiferring now somewhat more in detail to the specifi-ic construction ofthe fuse block, this LcQmpriSeS an 4llsulating base 30, .0n which thefuse receptacle .contacts and `lient-ral wir` ing terminals `are mountedandan insulating cover 31 having openings for the fuse recep` tacles andhaving a portonSQ vServing as .a cover for the wiring terminals on :thefuse block and -for thefwires iadjacent the fuse block. The insulatingbase ,30 is l.Incnlriicd on `a Sheet metal support 33, having lugs 34which slip into slots in the trough 11, and having a lip 35 to receivethe securing screw 36 which holds the supportin place in the trough.

V The sheet metal cover 37, shown in Fig. 5, has upper and lower ilanges3S and 39, which it over the edges oi"- the trough and has side flanges40 and 41, which tit inside the edges of the covers 42 and 43 of theservice boxes, vso that when the serviceboxes are closed and sealed, thecover 37, Ator the trough is securely held in place. This cover S7 hasan enlarged oval opening 43a, affording i'ree access of the fusebloclrwheii the hinged cover 43h for the trough is opened.

The construction shown in Fig. 6 is substantially the same as that justdescribed, eX- cept that here the trough 44 is long enough toaccommodate two of the -l'use blocks and is provided with two branchconduits 45 and 46 so that a greater number of branch circuits may bederived, or so'that a greater number ot the branch wires may be providedwith fuses.

The construction shown in Figs. 7, 8, and 9 is similar to theconstructions previously described, except that here the overloadprotective devices are mounted in two rows, one above the other', sothat the casing between the two service boxes 47 and 48 is considerablyhigher than'in the form previously described. As in the previous forms,the casing 49 is provided with a gutter portion 50, for the line wiresleading from one service box to the other, and is provided with a sheetmetal cover Y51, to vbe opened by the tenant to permit access to thefuse receptacles 51a. A common binding plate 52 is provided for theneutral branch wires. The binding screw 53 for the neutral. bindingplate is connected with the nuetral line wire 54. A positive line wire(not shown) from the lefthand service box may be connected with thebinding screw 55, common to the center contacts of the two left-handfuse receptacles, and a negative line wire (not shown) from theright-hand service box may be'connected with the binding screw 56,common to the center contacts to the right-hand fuse recoptacles.

Potential branch wires are connected with the binding screws 57, 58, 59and 60 for the shell contacts of the fuse receptacles and neutral branchWires are connected with the binding screws 61, 62, 63, and 64 of theneutral binding plate. The casing is provided with branch conduits 65and 66 leading therefrom for the branching wires.

In this form, there are thus derived tour branch circuits with fuses forthe potential branches but with no fuses for the neutral branches.

Reference is hereby made to my application, Serial No. 673,664, filedNovember 9, 1923, for which this application is a substitute.

I claim:

1. `The combination with a pair of sealed service boxes, and a troughproviding a passage for the line wires between said boxes, ot overloadprotective devices in said trough, and an unsealed cover for said troughpermitting access to the overload protective devices when open.

2. The combination with a pair of sealed service boxes, and a troughproviding a passage tor line wires between said boxes, ot overloadprotective devices for branch wires in said trough, and an unsealedcover itor said trough permitting access to the overload protectivedevices when open, said trough having an opening for the branch wiresleading therefrom.

rlhe combination with a pair of sealed service boxes and a casingbetween said boxes, comprising a trough provided with a passage for linewires between said boxes, of overload protective devices 'for branchwires in said casing, and an unsealed cover for said casing permittingaccess to the overload protective devices wien open, said casing havingan opening i'or branch wires leading therefrom, said overload protectivedevices being provided with an insulating base lying in liront or' saidline wires.

ln witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed iny name.

' REUBEN B. BENJAMIN.

